Curious Events In History

Forty strange-but-true historical happenings—from a thirty-eight-minute war to the time when a top-hat caused a riot—from the author of Lies You Learned in School. Here are forty of the most curious events in world history. Though they span the centuries and circle the globe, they share one common trait: all were too peculiar to make it into the standard history books. Read these fascinating accounts and learn about: The craze for consuming powdered mummy to cure all ailments The medieval courtroom advocate who pled the case of plaintiff rats The U.S. President who was shot by an assassin but killed by his doctor’s earnest efforts to treat him If you thought you knew all you needed to know about history, this book will show you some truly curious gaps in your knowledge.

Who invented beds? When did we start cleaning our teeth? How old are wine and beer? Which came first: the toilet seat or toilet paper? What was the first clock? Every day, from the moment our alarm clock wakes us in the morning until our head hits our pillow at night, we all take part in rituals that are millennia old. Structured around one ordinary day, A Million Years in a Day reveals the astonishing origins and development of the daily practices we take for granted. In this gloriously entertaining romp through human history, Greg Jenner explores the gradual—and often unexpected—evolution of our daily routines. This is not a story of wars, politics, or great events. Instead, Jenner has scoured Roman rubbish bins, Egyptian tombs, and Victorian sewers to bring us the most intriguing, surprising, and sometimes downright silly historical nuggets from our past. Drawn from across the world, spanning a million years of humanity, this book is a smorgasbord of historical delights. It is a history of all those things you always wondered about—and many you have never considered. It is the story of your life, one million years in the making.

Historic Oddities and Strange Events is a collection of compelling and horrifying true mysteries throughout history. Baring-Goulde picks out only those tales inspiring the truest sublime horror. Contents: "PAGE Preface, vii The Disappearance of Bathurst, 1 The Duchess of Kingston, 26 General Mallet, 51 Schweinichen's Memoirs, 67 The Locksmith Gamain, 83 Abram the Usurer, 103 Sophie Apitzsch, 121 Peter Nielsen..."

Applying quirky illustrations and fun, informative text, 100 Events That Made History takes a look at the key events from the past that have helped shape our present. from bloodthirsty battles and rebellious revolutions to curious coincidences and unfortunate accidents. Full of history and history-makers, 100 Events That Made History contains all the historical accounts you'd expect to find, and plenty that you wouldn't! Divided into five chapters: Momentous Moments, Battling It Out, Weird or What?, Nasty Nature, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, major moments that have changed the course of history are showcased together with minor incidents to give full context to each event. From the Gold Rush to the moon landing, and the Great Fire of London to the sinking of the Titanic, 100 Events That Made History is perfect for book reports, school projects, or anytime reading to satisfy and educate curious minds.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Mirages have long astonished travelers of the sea and beguiled thirsty desert voyagers. Traditional Chinese and Japanese poetry and art depict the above-horizon, superior mirage, or fata morgana, as exhalations of clam-monsters. Indian sources relate mirages to the “thirst of gazelles,” a metaphor for the futility of desire. Starting in the late eighteenth century, mirages became a symbol in the West of Oriental despotism—a negative, but also enchanted, emblem. But the mirage motif is rarely simply condemnatory. More often, our obsession with mirages conveys a sense of escape, of fascination, of a desire to be deceived. The Waterless Sea is the first book devoted to the theories and history of mirages. Christopher Pinney navigates a sinuous pathway through a mysterious and evanescent terrain, showing how mirages have impacted politics, culture, science, and religion—and how we can continue to learn from their sublimity.

"Historic Oddities and Strange Events" by S. Baring-Gould. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Historic Oddities and Strange Events, 1st Series is compilation of historical essays by Sabine Baring-Gould. Gould was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, and novelist. Excerpt: "Some are born great," said Malvolio, strutting in yellow stockings, cross-gartered, before Olivia, "some achieve greatness," and with a smile, "some have greatness thrust upon them." Of the latter was Sophie Sabine Apitzsch. She was not born great, she was the daughter of an armourer. She hardly can be said to have achieved greatness, though she did attain to notoriety; what greatness she had was thrust on her, not altogether reluctant to receive it. But the greatness was not much, and was of an ambiguous description. She was treated for a while as a prince in disguise, and then became the theme of an opera, of a drama, and of a novel. For a hundred years her top-boots were preserved as historical relics in the archives of the House of Saxony, till in 1813 a Cossack of the Russian army passing through Augustenburg, saw, desired, tried on, and marched off with them; and her boots entered Paris with the Allies."